Trucks still banned on Ohio bridge awaiting repair

CLEVELAND (AP) -- A northeast Ohio bridge with some weakened steel plates awaits repairs more than two months after state transportation officials banned truck traffic on it.

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer (http://bit.ly/QyKKUH ) reports that the Ohio Department of Transportation banned large trucks and buses from the Main Avenue Bridge in Cleveland in July.

State transportation officials say the 35,000 drivers who use the bridge daily aren't in danger. They say the ban was needed to lighten the load on the water-damaged 72-year-old bridge stretching more than a mile across the Cuyahoga River.

A state transportation spokeswoman says the action was taken to ensure public safety and should last through the winter as crews repair gusset plates and steel pieces.

The newspaper reports that a contractor had not been chosen as of last week.